Secretary of State’s Web Site Is Now Multilingual

With Kentucky’s economy diversifying through foreign-based companies that now call the commonwealth home, Secretary of State Trey Grayson recently announced that the Office of the Secretary of State’s Web site will offer translations into six languages. The new service makes the Office of the Secretary of State’s Web site one of the first multilingual Web sites in Kentucky state government.

“In order for Kentucky to be at the cutting edge of economic development, we must provide as much access to information as possible for potential companies,” stated Secretary Grayson. “As one of the portals for business incubation in the commonwealth, it seemed only necessary that we provide this resource to help grow Kentucky’s economy.”

The site is translated through an automated and computerized process and occurs dynamically, allowing the site to be translated immediately after it is updated in English. The site will now be accessible in Spanish, French, Japanese, German, Italian and traditional Chinese. Forms for the office will not be translated as Kentucky Revised Statutes require “the document shall be in the English language” (KRS 271, KRS 273, KRS 275). All visitors to the site whose computers are programmed with the appropriate characters will have access to the translations.

Nearly 2 percent of the 1.8 million annual visitors to the Office of the Secretary of State’s Web site come from foreign countries. The languages chosen primarily reflect the demand for the languages as determined by constituents’ requests and the primary languages of the international visitors that most frequently visited the site.

“We want to create an environment where business can thrive in this state. By providing this service, we are opening the door to even greater opportunities for business in the commonwealth,” stated Grayson.